Expelled from Cuba jails, journalists languish in Spain

In 2010, following midsummer negotiations between the
Catholic Church and the government of President Raúl Castro, Cuban authorities
began releasing imprisoned journalists, sending them into forced exile with their
families. In April 2011, the last of more than 20 journalists arrived in Spain.
They had been granted liberty and respite, and were promised support from
Spanish authorities while they settled into the new country. But almost two
years after the first crop of journalists arrived in Spain, the four who remain
in the country are living under extremely difficult
conditions, struggling even to feed themselves.

Mijaíl Bárzaga Lugo, Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, Ricardo González
Alfonso, and Omar Rodríguez Saludes were among the 29 reporters and editors
scooped up by Cuba during a 2003 massive crackdown on
the island's dissidents and independent press. Bárzaga Lugo, a reporter for the
independent news agency Agencia Noticiosa Cubana, was handed a 15-year prison sentence;
Gálvez Rodríguez, a veteran journalist, was also given 15 years; Ricardo González
Alfonso, a freelance reporter, poet, and correspondent for Reporters without
Borders, got 20 years; and photographer Rodríguez Saludes was handed a whopping
27 years in jail. The inhuman
conditions in which they lived behind bars included rotten food, withheld
medical attention, and overflowing toilets, just to name a few. At home, their
families were continuously
harassed by authorities and neighbors for being linked to Cuba's
dissidence.

The four journalists arrived in Spain in July 2011. They
travelled with their immediate and extended families. Before leaving, they were
promised financial support to cover rent and other basic needs such as food,
utilities, and transportation, the journalists said. Government support,
explained Rodríguez Saludes, was initially to last one year. However, if the
journalists and their families were still unable to support themselves by the
end of this period, assistance could be extended for up to 12 additional months,
the photographer told CPJ. None of the four families have been in Spain longer
than 24 months, and yet, they have all stopped receiving financial aid.

Gálvez Rodríguez, 67, said he has applied for 22 job
openings since he arrived in Spain. "Every time, they tell me the same thing --
that I am very qualified and have an incredible résumé, but that,
unfortunately, I am over the retirement age." Rodríguez Saludes, 46, has not
stopped looking either, but he has also been unable to find a job. His wife and
sister-in-law, he said, have jobs as domestic workers. Each works only two
hours a day.

Children continue to receive a free education. However, with
no income coming in and other basic needs, such as food, taking precedence,
some of the children have stopped attending school. The journalists explained
that they are no longer able to pay school lunch fees, or for the metro trip
from home to the school. "A one kilometer walk might be nice if you're doing it
for pleasure," said Gálvez Rodríguez of the distance between his apartment and
his seven-year-old son's school. "It is simply undoable for a child every
morning and evening." Last week, Gálvez Rodríguez simply stopped taking his son
to school.

As with education, the journalists and their families
continue to have access to free health care. Medications and other medical
necessities, however, have to be paid for out of pocket. Bárzaga Lugo, for
instance, said he is liable for a series of medical expenses -- including a
wheelchair -- needed for daily support of his 74-year-old mother, who is
senile.

By CPJ's latest count, 15 of the journalists forced into
exile have now traveled to the United States in search of better situations.
(One more, José
Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, went immediately to Chile from Spain.) Of the
four who remain in Spain, Bárzaga Lugo, Gálvez Rodríguez and Rodríguez Saludes
said they are also looking to leave.

A fifth journalist who was in Spain, Albert Santiago Du
Bouchet Hernández, killed
himself last month. Although no one knows exactly what drove Du Bouchet
Hernández to this desperate action, friends said he had been experiencing many
difficulties.

"We are living very difficult times right now," said Bárzaga
Lugo via e-mail yesterday. "In the two houses that my family shares, the refrigerators
are empty, there is no food. We have also not paid the last month's rent, not
to mention electricity and water bills. Whatever I tell you couldn't possibly
describe our situation."

María Salazar-Ferro is CPJ’s Impunity Campaign and Journalist Assistance Program coordinator. A native of Bogotá, she studied at Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, and graduated from the University of Virginia. She reports on exiled and missing journalists, and has represented CPJ on missions to Mexico and the Philippines, among others.

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